Cheri Huber and the Zen Monastery Peace Centre

Over the last few weeks I've been reading a few books by zen teacher Cheri Huber, and have been introduced to her wonderful on-line resources, intended to provide support for those who don't live near her monastery.  I'm always keen to get this kind of meditation support, because I'm pretty much house-bound these days and can't get out to join a regular meditation or Buddhist group. 

I just love it when groups of people can get together, regardless of geographic location or personal circumstances, to share their experiences and support each other on this journey. This is the communication revolution at its best!

If you're not into Buddhism - don't worry - the word 'Buddha' is hardly ever mentioned in any of the resources offered by Cheri and the monks at the Zen Monastery Peace Centre.  From what I can gather, she focuses a lot on working with conditioning (aka 'the voices in my head').  

As an example of conditioning, I might be happily writing away at this blog post only to have my peace interrupted by a voice saying quietly -  'You know, people don't really like this blog.  Some people say they do, but they don't.'  I go into a quiet panic, and worry about that voice being right.  And there I am - caught in conditioning. 

  Cheri Huber works a lot around the idea of conditioning and its role in self-hatred, and on developing a more nurturing, supportive, present element to our lives.  Her work is extremely practical and focused on the here and now.  I'm sure I'll be writing more over the next few months about some of Cheri's teachings, but for now, I wanted to give a list of some of the support and resources she offers. 

Open Air:  a weekly, on-line radio program where guests call in and ask questions.  There are a few hundred past episodes available as podcasts.

Practice Everywhere: Receive short awareness practice reminders by way of text messages, computer, Facebook, Twitter, or i Phone. When you sign up, you can choose how to receive them.

Reflective Listening Buddies:  this program offers the opportunity to connect with another person, by phone or Skype, weekly for 30 minutes of practice support.

E-mail classes:  classes on awareness practice offered through e-mail.  (A donation is suggested for this class, but no set amount).